This weekend’s Cleveland Browns road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is quietly one of the most significant matchups of the early NFL season when it comes to quarterback implications.

The Browns travel to Tampa Bay to face former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, the quarterback Cleveland moved on from in favor of Deshaun Watson in 2022. On Sunday, the two will battle it out, and the stakes for Watson’s future as the Browns’ starting quarterback are high.

Baker Mayfield has found his footing in Tampa Bay long-term

The Browns selected Mayfield with the No. 1 pick back in 2018, and he spent four seasons in Cleveland before the team pushed him out the door, deeming he wasn’t the quarterback of the future. 

Mayfield has since found his footing with the Buccaneers after stops with the Panthers and Rams, spending the last four years in Tampa Bay and recently signing a three-year extension worth more than $160 million. Sunday marks the second time Mayfield will face the Browns in his career. He’s 0-1 against Cleveland from back in 2022 when he was with the Carolina Panthers, and he enters the game 0-1 on the season after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.

There’s no doubt Mayfield will want to get the best of the Browns and outplay Watson, the quarterback Cleveland chose over him.

Deshaun Watson’s time in Cleveland could be running out

There’s some belief around the fan base that this could be Watson’s last game as the Browns’ starting quarterback. His contract will be up after the year, and Cleveland is all but set to move on from the failed trade acquisition. If Mayfield goes out and shreds the Browns the way Trevor Lawrence did in Week 1, and Watson has another poor outing, it’s hard to see a world where the Browns are starting Watson in Week 3 for the home opener against the Panthers.

The Browns would likely turn to rookie Shedeur Sanders for that home opener, knowing the fan base would boo Watson off the field every chance they get in a Week 3 game.

It would be quite the story for Watson’s final game in a Browns uniform as a starting quarterback to come against Mayfield, the player the Browns pushed away. Mayfield rebuilt his career and earned a massive contract extension in Tampa Bay while Watson’s tenure in Cleveland spiraled. That would be a wild outcome, a kind of Browns outcome for the Watson situation to end like that.

Cleveland has given Watson every chance to be their long-term answer, but he’s never played in more than seven games in a season since 2022. Even when the former Texans star has been on the field, it’s been a bad product. The Browns are undoubtedly looking to the 2027 NFL Draft for their quarterback. 

Baker Mayfield eying to get one against the Browns after tough Week 1 

Expect Mayfield to come out with a full head of steam and a playmaking desire that likely rivals any top level of competitiveness he’s ever had going into a game. 

He wants this one, bad. And while it won’t be the defining game of the Buccaneers’ season by any means, it certainly means more to Mayfield than anyone on the Bucs roster. 

The key, however, is attempting to make plays in a responsible fashion. Mayfield tried way too hard against the Bengals in Week 1 and we all saw how that turned out with three fumbles in a loss. He’s been very honest about his role in the loss and if he repeats the same mistakes, well, it’ll be hard to believe he’s changed his ways.